Blitz

The NICE BIG case with the cypher of Michael I.

Reverses..

The cross up close..

The Star, the first order's star I have ever acquired..

First off: 1st type Grand Officers set, made by Resch. The finest quality.

..now there are many. :jumping:

But that wasn't the end of this week, oh no.. I made a trip to a collector friends place and to Helsinki where I picked up even more things..

And where there was only one...

I have been working for the whole summer and at some point started to assess what kind of funds would be available to me for collecting at the summers end. So I did the math. Then I started to wonder what I would buy. Something from imperial Germany. I thought about it and thought about it. Asked advice, opinions. After a month of thinking I was still nowhere. I Couldn't make up my mind. So I thought to myself that this shouldn't be so hard. And I decided. Since there was no way to meet any of my substantial collecting goals with my level of income, I had to shift to something where I could get something really interesting. And in the end the choise was simple; Romania.

After a looong period of silence and empty mailboxes wednesday changed everything. A parcel came in the mail.

Thank you for sharing those wonderfull pictures. I've never seen a Milosch order star before. Stunning.

I would suggest that you take alook at what this gentleman has to offer:

http://www.detlev-niemann.de/

The most reliable dealer around.

You're welcome.

I don't collect imperial Russia and hence can't give an estimate, but knowing how prices with russian items have rocketed up in the past few years.. ..It might not be cheap.

Yes, there is always room for improvement..

It's the enamel.

Common denominator between Baden and Rumania is the aesthetic appeal of fine looking awards.

They are PRETTY... not like all that UGLY zinky stuff.

That's what lured me from Imperial German to Soviet when everything I could afford or ever would be able to find disappeared in the mid 1990s. Now that has happened to Soviet as well-- I'm priced out, and reduced to getting what is already in my Viking horde researched.

So I've branched out into other things as well, too.

I think part of the allure is something new, something unknown, something "special" that is not the Flavor Of The Month for everybody else, that is affordable and at least available enough not to go into a Nothing New coma.

Also very true. It was beauty that drew me into collecting Baden in the first place after two years of collecting iron crosses and the like. Besides the history, availability and price, it was beauty that effected a shift to Romania.

hehe.. I figured It was something like that.

Even without the cross of liberty breast star that is still a very impressive grouping. Congratulations Stefan!

Mini's do have their own appeal.. Congrats and thanks for sharing.

I do and I will, but it's just not my main thing. Award docs and such are important and can be very beautifull. But they just don't have the buzz or whatever you call it. Atleast not for me.

Some very fine items and grouping posted in this thread, thanks for all who have shared! I must confess that even though finns and hungarians are related to each other (the languages and the peoples) I couldn't understand a word of what decker and hunyadi wrote. Except for "magyar", naturally.

A great bar to have in any collection, Congrats!

Chris's question is not without merit. Imperial Baden isn't exactly next door to the kingdom of Romania. Though it's been a while I'll try and reply.

My problems started with my ambitions as a collector. It took me over a year to complete a phase of my Baden collection and I was allready running out of options. There were basically big two awards on my "get it" list. A Z?hringer l?wenorden commander and the commanders star. Those two combined will cost me (in the future) atleast 5000 euros. Now I'm no beggar, but as a student back then and now, I do have limited means in my disposal and it seemed quite alot of money. And with the realisation that my hobby would die if I bought an award or two per year, I changed course. I still collected Baden, but took sidesteps like the 2nd cl. KO and after that, I spent months saving up for the SOS trip in 2006. After I returned I got interested in a new Imperial land, Reuss. There was something very interesting in the Reuss honour cross and the small princely enclave. So I decided to start with a bang. There was a rather unique Reuss item in the spring auction in Hermann Historica; the highest class of the Reuss honour cross with a wehrpass for a Reuss Prince (see pic). I went after it. I seem to remember that my high bid was about 500 euros short of what winner of the auction paid for it. I lost and I learned again that my means were limited. What followed was a six months period when I didn't really buy anything. I didn't have the means and I had to save money either way. During the fall and winter of last year, I browsed dealer sites again and again out of boredom and to keep my collecting alive one way or the other.. And I started to looking outside imperial stuff because I had seen them so many times. I noticed that romanian orders looked very interesting.. That got me curious and I started to dig in to their history and found out that their old ruling house was of the Hohenzollerns! A de facto extension of Imperial Germany.. Realizing the huge difference in prices got me even more curious. So I bought a book on them. After that I was pretty much sold.

My collecting has followed a predictable pattern for a while now; first I get interested in the history, after that I buy books, after that I buy awards and after that I write something. In imperial germany (generally speaking), I was and I still am interested in the history, I buy books, collect awards and I have and I am writing something for publishing for the collecting public. In 2005 I completed a 4 month project that is to be published in the future (when I cannot say). This year I have written an article of Baden, first of many that will be published in a finnish numismatic association's magazine, in september and I have writted an article on the romanian crown order that was published in april.

So there is my answer..

Stylish, very stylish...

Waldeck and Finland, there is always a first..

stats-service online.

Doing my thing.....

Thanks Theo! Beware though, your secret weapon might steal it from you...